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Rap and rape in India

Popular Punjabi rapper Honey Singh cancelled his New Year's Eve concert after his song lyrics describing violence towards women caused outrage online. The move came after more than 2,600 people signed an online petition calling for the event's host to cancel Singh's show.

Since the recent gang rape and death of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi, the issue of sexual violence has come under a national spotlight in India.

Rap and rape in India

The nation is outraged at the ease with which rape happens, at the unnecessary death of a young woman whose entire life lay before her. We know that these rapes occur because in the India of today rape is acceptable to many men.Petition | GM of The Bristol Hotel Gurgaon India: Stop Honey Singh's Performance | Change.org

These pornographic lyrics are unacceptable and it is because of women hating sentiments like these that men think that it's fine to do what they did on that bus, that December night in Delhi.Petition | GM of The Bristol Hotel Gurgaon India: Stop Honey Singh's Performance | Change.org

Many on Twitter supported the boycott, while others thought it amounted to censorship of Honey Singh's music.

I sincerely hope that India does not go into hyper censorship drive. Don't like Honey Singh but then dont think u should gag him.abhijeet

.@aparatbar I'm against censorship. I'm not against a social boycott call--it's neither a ban nor a demand for state regulation. #HoneySinghNilanjana Roy

I can't believe ppl r shedding tears 4 #HoneySingh! Anyway the petition was a valid form of protest. ONE show got cancelled. It's not a BANKrishna Marathe

Lyrics don't cause rape. But they cause hate and validation of a sick misogynist mindset. They humiliate me as a person. #HoneySinghYashica Dutt